Journey to the centre of the brain

The brain is just 2% of our body weight, yet it receives about 20% of the body's blood supply through an extensive network of blood vessels an astounding 600 km long.

These blood vessels are very selective in what substances they allow to pass between the brain and the bloodstream. Microvessels in the brain form a blood-brain barrier allowing essential nutrients such as oxygen, glucose and hormones to enter. These microvessels also allow waste products to be removed from the brain. The integrity of this blood-brain barrier is vital in maintaining a healthy environment for brain cell function. It also plays a protective role in preventing harmful toxins and viruses from entering the central nervous system; regulating movement of specific drugs, proteins, and blood cells.

In MS the blood-brain barrier is known to be ‘leaky’ to immune cells, and new MS lesions tend to form around blood vessels. ‘Inflammation in and around blood vessels in the MS brain might be responsible for interfering with the body’s rigorous security barrier, which protects the brain from potentially toxic agents in the blood,’ commented Prof Simon Hawke from the Brain and Mind Research Institute and the MSRA Brain Bank.

Along with Dr Ka Ka Ting from the University of Sydney, he is using the latest DNA technology to work out which genes are turned on or off in brain blood vessels purified from active lesions in post-mortem MS tissue. They think that problems with transporter proteins might explain the progressive loss of brain tissue and early symptoms like fatigue or cognitive problems. Through understanding such changes it is hoped that more targeted and effective treatments can be developed.

'Using human brain tissue is imperative if we’re to understand these disease processes. The MSRA Brain Bank is a growing resource specifically for MS researchers to use and is available because people with MS generously wish to play their part to rid future generations of MS.'

To request for your MSRA Brain Bank donor information and consent pack, please call 1300 672 265 or register online click here.